Current Electro-Cardio Graphic (ECG) systems require the patient to be located in close proximity to the ECG machine obtaining measurements via electrodes attached to the skin. The adhesive electrodes can cause skin irritation, infection, discomfort, and other issues to the patient. This can especially be a problem to newborns with sensitive skin. Methods for non-contact cardiac pulse measurement based on imaging patients using RGB and/or multi-spectral infrared (IR) cameras have arisen in this art. By recording video images of the region of exposed skin where concentrations of blood vessels exist, small changes in pulsating inside blood vessels are registered as blood volume signals on detector arrays. These signals can comprise a mixture of patient plethysmographic signals (i.e., blood volume signals) along with other artifacts from the environment. The detector arrays also may register involuntary and voluntary bodily motions and muscle fluctuations. Biomedical signals can be corrupted by fluctuations in illumination source, electronic power line noise, periodic signals manifested by camera auto calibration, and the like. Unwanted signals are difficult to separate from desired signals when these have frequency components that are within the bandwidth of the frequency of the human heart rate. Therefore, a need exists to automatically compensate video images to enhance the signal quality required during estimation.
Accordingly, what is needed in this art are sophisticated systems and methods for removing undesirable periodic signals and random background noise from video images obtained from a RGB camera or an infrared (IR) camera for improved accuracy and reliability of biomedical measurements obtained from those captured signals.